CHALLENGE & SOLUTION

When the carriage house, below, was completed Susanne Hudson's builder said, "Don't plant, I've packed solid Georgia red clay so you won't flood."
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What did Susanne do?
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She planted a garden around her carriage house in POTS.
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Last fall's flood, killing several in Douglasville, GA? Roads & bridges are still closed in places. Susanne's carriage house did not flood.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken in Susanne Hudson's garden of her carriage house. Susanne prefers green, brown & white in her garden. Above, you see mophead hydrangeas allowed into her tight color scheme. Three years ago Susanne began the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival. A weekend of lectures, vendors & garden tours. Go if you can, it's fabulous.

This IS Designed: FRISSON

Old tools, old shed, below, works every time. Totally designed, above. Ha, you thought it was an area 'not done'? Hardly.From the same garden, above.

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Create FRISSON in your landscape.

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Tension between formal/informal. Ying/Yang.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken in Susanne Hudson's garden.

LUSH WITHOUT SPACE

Want to add lushness without taking up space? Put a vine on your house. Or espalier a woody shrub. Not much, above, but loads of lushness. And little maintenance. Rich, welcoming. Don't you want to know what the inside looks like? And the garden? Already sense you would like the owner?
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Slow down, dahlings. 3 questions, above, are quite serious. And part of designing your landscape.
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Ask those questions of your frontdoor & back patio area.
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Color, empty pots, scale, path, axis, light fixture, bell pull, enfilade each play a role too. But I'm only speaking of the vine today. Isn't it amazing how the simplest of garden pictures is, in reality, a full landscape design course?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic from Kathryn Ireland

GARDEN DESIGNERS BLOGLINK: TARA'S TRINITY OF THE SOUTHERN GARDEN

With, Tara's Trinity of the Southern Garden: Azaleas, Camellias, Hydrangeas, you'll have blooms everyday in your garden. Oakleaf hydrangea bloom late spring, mophead hydrangea bloom early summer & summer, 'Anna Belle' hydrangea bloom summer, 'Tardiva' & 'Pee Gee' hydrangea bloom late summer to frost. Above, lacecap hydrangea.

Southern Indica Azaleas, 'George Tabor', above, bloom in spring. They stand up to drought, bugs, cold. Use Exbury azaleas too, they bloom before 'George Tabor'.

Camellia sasanqua, above, bloom in fall. Camellia japonica bloom in winter.

Landscapes designed with evergreen hedges & entries, cultivate the eye, songbirds, & increase property value. Chinese snowball, above. Pathways should flow around your entire property, no dead ends. 'Tardiva' hydrangea blooming, above.

Use wit & whimsy in your landscape, above. Beware, CUTE, it's treacherous.

Start your landscape design from inside your home, Vanishing Threshold. Patio, above, viewed from my kitchen sink.

Design your landscape for February. It will be gorgeous all year. View, above, from my living room.

Site deciduous understory trees, crape myrtle, above, to shade your home from summer sun. Window, above, views stone terrace, below. Summer's blanket of rudbeckia gives way to smooth Tennessee gray flagstone the rest of the year.

If you're new to gardening in the South you'll adore, A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence, and, Hudson's Southern Gardening by Charles Hudson. Use your local Extension Service for specific advice to your county/state. The Garden In Winter, by Rosemary Verey is an incredible garden design book. My 5 books ( 3 on garden design, 2 on plants) are at the right, scroll down.

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Tara's Trinity Of The Southern Garden is gorgeous, low maintenance & a workhorse of your Southern garden design.

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Today is GARDEN DESIGNERS BLOGLINK across America. 12 garden designers sharing what's unique to their region. ENJOY !!!!!

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Jocelyn Chilvers (The Art Garden) – Wheat Ridge, CO
Susan Cohan (Miss Rumphius’ Rules) - Chatham, NJ
Michelle Derviss (Garden Porn) – Novato, CA
Dan Eskelson (Clearwater Landscapes Garden Journal) – Priest River, ID
Laura Livengood Schaub (Interleafings) – San Jose CA
Susan Morrison (Blue Planet Garden Blog) – East Bay, CA
Pam Penick (Digging) – Austin, TX
Susan Schlenger (Landscape Design Viewpoint) – Charlottesville, VA
Genevieve Schmidt (North Coast Gardening) – Arcata, CA
Ivette Soler (The Germinatrix) – Los Angeles, CA
Rebecca Sweet (Gossip in the Garden) – Los Altos, CA
Become a Fan of Blue Heron Landscape Design on Face book – http://bit.ly/yq1XT
Read the Blue Heron Landscapes Blog: http://www.bhld.wordpress.com/
Become a Fan of Blue Heron Landscape Design on Face book - www.bit.ly/yq1XT
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScottHokunson
Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scotthokunson

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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All pics my garden except hedge with window. Took that pic while writing one of my books.

NECESSITY: LANDSCAPE FANTASIES

A Woodland Walk in my tiny garden, below, aka, air-conditioning side of my house. Chair rotted long ago. Red bud tree died slowly, rotted slowly. Great fun watching songbirds gather insects & make homes in its wood.
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LANDSCAPE FANTASIES abound, "What do I want to do here? Hmmmm!"
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A beautiful garden is fabulous but having a portion of your garden in the realm of fantasy is rich indeed.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

KNOW WHO TO ASK

Ask a landscape contractor specializing in brick/stone/concrete/mortar for ideas about a path or terrace? It's fairly certain you'll end up with ideas like this, below. Instead of something like this, below.

Gravel ranges $20-$48/ton & doesn't require skilled labor.

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At a girlfriend's for dinner I broke a personal rule, "No Landscape Designing, Unless Asked. " She told me the story of several contractor bids to repair her old, broken concrete patio. Each bid into the thousands of dollars. I asked her, "What do you think of gravel?"

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Yes, dahlings, less than $300 later she had a gravel terrace. She asked me, "Why didn't any of the contractors tell me about gravel?" She loves the terrace & so do I. We've had many dinners, brunches & glasses of wine on her gravel terrace.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Top pic from Smithsonian Horticulture Archive, Bottom pic from the movie, It's Complicated. No time to poke around for my girlfriend's gravel terrace at the moment. Another post!

ROUNDABOUTS HERE & THERE

Roundabouts, below, get you around a garden.

Roundabouts are a fabulous landscape design tool. Use where 2, or more, paths intersect.

This woman, above, was beyond ready to take her frontyard in hand. Corner lot, too big, unattractive, way too much mowing, little property value, and most importantly, it did not make her happy. (Ha, beware the woman not happy with something.)

Grass was reduced, paths with roundabout designed, groundcovers, evergreen shrubs, & understory trees to survive drought/flood & aging in place. Aging in place? Want to be 88 with weekly garden chores? Ha, didn't think so. It's designing for unskilled labor, tough plants, and timeless beauty on axis from window views.

From the house, above, a stone roundabout anchors the view. Evergreen hollies anchor the entry path, variegated sweetflag (groundcover) surround the roundabout.

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Designed in the grand tradition with a low maintenance theme. Not completed, above, and already showing promise. And her? She's HAPPY.

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Small roundabout, above. Notice something important about the pot, above? It doesn't HAVE to be planted.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics of completed roundabouts I took last January in the botanical garden in Birmingham, England. My client sent the pics of her roundabout.

WHAT'S MISSING IN THIS PICTURE?

Centuries of landscape design & garden maintenance lessons in France, where I took this pic. What is wrong in this pic?
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The gardener has increased his gardening time by 10-15X's. Why? Don't we all want low maintenance?
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Fallen prunings, with thorns, have to be picked up by hand. Leaves & petals will have to be blown.
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A sheet under the prunings, dahlings. A sheet. All is picked up, no thorn worries, no blower.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Other gardeners at this public park outside Paris were using sheets.

PATH & PATIO

PATH GIRL, born 1935, hired me early summer. She was stuck in her backyard. One glance, I knew. First, stain patio furnishings a shade from inside.

More important, paths. PATH GIRL created a beautiful garden but the paths weren't 'done'. A roundabout, below, radiates paths.

Gravel to the rescue. PATH GIRL shoveled her own. Edging garden beds with stone found on-site & fallen tree limbs. Not quite finished yet. Yes, dearies, part of the design, use what's at hand.

An alcove of path with an antique marble bench &, while sitting on the bench, a pineapple, symbol of welcome, at your feet.

And the pre-built potting shed, Magnolia Hall, is steeped in gravel too.

Up to its side, adding a new sitting area.

Many weeks of shoveling then an invitation to lunch.

Crabcakes & conversation. Hours of connection.

In the dining room a 2nd, smaller, table for games, reading or dining with a view.

Vanishing Threshold views, above & below.

NOTES & RESOURCES:

* Edge gravel path, with stone or brick, closer to the house.

* Edge gravel path with fallen tree limbs farther away from the house.

* Transitioning edging materials creates another layer of interest.

* Paint Colors for deck furniture: Behr Ultra Exterior Satin [primer & paint all in one] at Home Depot. Antique Red UL 170, Native Soil 179-22 [taupe].

* Powder Coating of wrought iron table/chairs: http://www.millerpowdercoating.com/. 4251 Wayside Ct. #B, Lilburn, GA, 770-931-1505.

* Rug for deck, not shown, http://www.rugsusa.com/

* Shot pea gravel: Atlanta Landscape Materials, 5996 Buford Hwy., Doraville, GA 770-936-8462

* Lantern, not shown, http://www.nadeauimports.com/, Buckhead Store.

* PATH GIRL had the shot pea gravel delivered to her driveway. It took her several weeks to shovel from the pile to a wheelbarrow then dump into place. A neighbor, seeing her shovel, offered help. With a smile of appreciation she happily declined. Enjoying her gardening too much to let others in on her fun. Remember PATH GIRL, born 1935, is DIY.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

DOUBLE AXIS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE

If you have a focal point bench in your landscapeyou must be able to sit in the bench and see another focal point. Double Axis.
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My invention, Double Axis. Realizing all the best gardens have it. And. Yes, dahlings, more. The more axis views a focal point has the better it is.
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From the house, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point bench. From the bench, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point house/terrace/urns.
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Isn't it amazing how one line in a garden looks like 2 gardens when viewed in opposite directions?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for your English pics.

OPENING A RANCH

"When a culture is self-confident, it can translate what the rest of the world wants." John Hooks, Deputy General Manager of Giorgio Armani. Ranch Burgers wish to be opened. BONO GIRL was remodeling a ranch gettaway in Athens, GA when she asked for landscape help. Designing from Atlanta I knew to open her ranch. HOW? Use a round column + have a path to both sides of the landing + punctuate the stone wall with a low column + low iron urn with curves on column (not sourced yet) + curve the turf.
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The bold curving line between turf + bed is critical. THE CURVES: Column & turf, constrast fabulously with the myriad squares of the house. New plantngs were added, many existing were kept.
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Do you see how the entry of the house is brought forward several feet? Instead of hugging the front facade it begins at the low stone column. Adding depth added drama. Remember, "dinky is stinky."
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Many RANCH BURGERS lend themselves to my French Caretakers Cottage fantasy. Replace front windows with French doors, paint the brick, rip out the foundation plantings & etc. But that is another posting!

Vanishing Threshold, above. Can't wait for the plants to fill-in between the paths.

BONO GIRL invited me to her gettaway. Forget the landscape, her dogs were the focal point.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

VERTICAL STONES DEFINE ENTRY

This had been lawn, below, until I realized I deserved a garden when pulling into my tiny drive. The more entryways a landscape has the better a landscape is.

Low maintenance was a given, drought tolerant too, and NO MORE LAWN !

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Enter my garden here, along a flagstone path flanked with a pair of huge quartz stones, placed vertically for added heft & drama. Dwarf Indian hawthorn & roses caress the path. Contrasting foliage sizes & colors are easy drama. Why don't more people do it?

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The Chinese snowball tree and weeping red cut-leaf Japanese maple block views of neighbor's homes. And add repetition from other parts of my landscape. Ooh-la-la I love to show off with Chinese snowballs.
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A dear friend carried those stones home from camping trips in north Georgia. Turning 40 he sold every possession and moved north to be with family. A disconcerting estate sale but I came home with books & stones. He wouldn't let me pay for the stones. Two months later, my dear friend moved back to Georgia. Enough family, I suppose. Over a decade later Georgia is where he remains.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

PATHWAY PATTERNS + BIT OF FUN

What fun to choose your pathway pattern. This path is obviously professionally done. How can you tell? See the stones cut to fit?

I love that a pattern was chosen but the space

forced it into irregularities within regularity.

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A bit of fun. YOU create the path above. Using only free ingredients. YES, baby dolls you read that correctly. Using only free bricks, rocks & whatever.

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Why?

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That's how most landscapes are created. With found materials. And I want YOU to do the work. No fancy, smancy hired labor. You glorying on your knees in the dirt with hands carefully placing the vision of your heart.
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Oh my, PUPPET BARBUDA is liking this as a flower show display. Wouldn't it be fun seeing all the different paths?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken at Atlanta Botanical Garden last week when I taught a class.

A CHALLENGING LANDSCAPE JOB COMPLETED

I was implored, Keep us dry! My clients carriage house is several yards from their home. Arriving home in the rain meant getting wet. Now, they're dry and have a garden room.

I copied colors, dimensions, shingles, faux stone & light fixtures of their home creating a summer house & breezeway. As if it had always been there.

My clients asked for, perhaps, a canvas breezeway thru the middle of the garden space. Oh gosh, that had me stuck during the design phase.

A canvas covering over black aluminum rails to match their fence. Ouch. It wasn't working. And why solve a problem with an ugly solution? Ugly costs money too. More ouch.

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Then I asked myself, because the house is English, How would this be designed in England?

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Voila! The garden would definitely be preserved as the focal point, they would stay dry and there would be a place to sit and enjoy the garden. Yes, the English do know how to put a garden, with challenges, together.


Only a few days old in the pic, below, viewed from the upper porch.

The sunny day flagstone path thru the turf is barely visible from the summerhouse. Their beloved long-haired Jack Russell Terrier has a nice green canvas to begin his yellow splotches.

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I'll keep you posted on this project as the furnishings and garden progress.

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Can't wait to show you the faux balcony soon to arrive on the carriage house.

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FYI: I knew these people were wonderful the first time I knocked on their door. From their formal dining room window I saw kittens playing on a tall carpet covered jungle-gym. They had recently lost a much loved cat. He was replaced with 2 kittens. Every visit with this couple has us laughing at the antics of their kittens & Jack Russell. The 3 in love with each other and slip-sliding on the wood floors, behaving like cartoon characters.

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MONEY TALK: Yes, my solution cost more than the canvas & metal but not by much. However, my solution increased the value of the home immediately. They spent money to make money. How many investments can you USE while they make you money?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

LANDSCAPE INSPIRATION FROM AN INTERIOR DESIGN BLOG

Chaos of blue/white makes me smile. Seen at PIGTOWN DESIGN it was a blog header for AN AESTHETES LAMENT. Where does inspiration come from? I saw museum quality blue/white in a similar chaos display at Chatsworth in England. Oh my, is 'Chaos Display' a new design trick? Without inspiration.

It may take a few weeks but I'm field gathering blue/white china now. I'll place it on this patio table. It was originally a sofa table. My frogs will be on the move. Don't know where yet. But it will be fabulous, where ever they land.

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Is any of this important? YES. Why? It makes me smile.

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What makes you smile in your garden?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara